Everyday Matters

​I mean you can KNOW logically that dating the bad boy isn’t such a good thing but sometimes your FEELINGS get ya in a place ya never thought you’d be in. Mr. Bad Boy can override all logic.

I have had countless friends who’ve dated the bad boy. Why? I guess because exhilarating feelings seem to make a lot more sense than anything the mind can preach. It’s the rebellious adventure they take you on, their sweet words and the affection they give that fills that empty “love space” that only God Himself can fill. Many date the bad boy thinking they’re finally the one who can tame him. I know, you just wanna shake this person and tell them how much God loves and not to go down this route. Look at how Zephaniah 3:17 tells us God delights in us and in the Hebrew language this verse gives us the image that God literally “spins around” us with joy. Choose to think on that…everyday.

“My husband has cancer” I wrote that in the subject line of an email announcement that I sent to over 100 family and friends in 2010. My brother responded, “Wow, Deb that’s powerfully blunt to write in the subject line.” I know. It helps for me to face what I fear. If I can’t talk about the cancer or even it say then it has control over me. Many times Satan uses fear to immobilize us. Philippians 1:28 tells us not to be intimidated by our adversaries but stand with confidence and fearlessness because it’s a clear sign to the enemy of his doom, but sure evidence of our deliverance from God.

Satan knows that the only way he can overcome a believer is through deception and intimidation. It is okay if you’re shaking on the inside and feel afraid just don’t let it move you to let go and give up. Stand firm on the truth of God. My husband is cancer-free but no matter what happened I knew I would not be crippled by fear…everyday.

Here’s the deal from 2 Corinthians 5:17; "If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here.” However that doesn’t mean our flesh isn’t at times screaming for what is pleasurable from our old life. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit can we can truly let the past be the past.

It’s not what we do, but what God does in and through us that sets us free. Our “do” is our choice to listen to His voice and His Word. James 4 tells us that if we choose to be a friend of the world we take our stand as an enemy of God. Wow. We may say; “I’m a Christian,” but are we really “saved” when we choose to follow what the world has approved but God calls sin? We may still struggle with sin, but it’s important that we ask God to move in and change us. Confess, repent, and stop riding on the fence …everyday.

The letter began, “Debbie I’m struggling. I’ve been unemployed since September, I have an aunt who is in the hospital and my husband is constantly reminding me that he’s the one who’s paying the bills. I feel frustrated and far away from God.

Feeling far away from God and like He doesn’t care is what the devil wants you to feel and think. Satan is keen on feeding us lies and his two favorite are the “forever” lie and the “never” lie. He tells us the negative things in our lives will never change and will forever be the way they are. He says the way you are right now will stay that way “forever.” Lies. The truth is God is good and He has plans to bring you wholeness from your brokenness of pain and regret. Trust in God because bad things ultimately give way to better things. Ecclesiastes 3:1; TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven…everyday!

“If God has such great plans for me why is it they all seem to be falling apart?” Everyone seems against me. Some talk about a devil but is he even real? Does he have horns and carry a pitchfork? Yep, the devil is real. He’s not a Halloween costume and he has plans to destroy the ones God has.

Face the fact that there’s an enemy who’ll never leave us alone but we don’t have to let him bother us. “Oh, it’s you again,” I’ve said, rather than caving into the temptation to give up. Satan throws garbage lies at us because it's the way he is able to hurt God. When someone attacks your kids you take action to protect them because you’re on their side. God is on our side too. We are created in His image. “Be bold,” I told my son, David. “You can be aware of the devil but you don’t have to let him get to you.” We have redemption through Christ and nothing that’s happened to us is so destructive that God can’t redeem it…everyday.​

​I follow Jesus because He is God and I trust Him. He is holy and because of His holiness He must punish sin. He loves all humans whom He created but He hates sin and sin blocks us from having a relationship with Him. What to do? We can’t do enough good acts to remove our stains of sin. But because of God’s love for us He took the punishment and paid for our sin by dying on the cross. He then rose and came back to life. We now have a choice. Do we accept the sacrificial gift He offers with the hope of living eternally with Him? We are given the hope of heaven where we too will be fully restored physically complete and whole.

Know this; God dearly loves you and is deeply fond of you. That’s one part but the other part you must know and follow is to admit and confess that you’re a sinner. Oh the wonder of grace where God tells us in 1 John 1:9 that when we confess our sins He is faithful and just and He’ll remove all our sins. This is simply because of His great unconditional love for us which sets us free…everyday.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The fruit you grow is rooted in God and comes from Him. Since it comes from God, it’s stable and not like worldly happiness, which is merely emotional based on what “happens" to you. Let’s grow with the bright burst of love that God brings to you and I as we walk in faith, not fear. Galatians 5:22-23